Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

Written by: Joseph Woelfel06/07/13 - 7:05 AM EDT

Tickers in this article:
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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Friday, June 7:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were lower Friday as investors awaited the official nonfarm payrolls report for May and anticipated further hints into the timing of any Federal Reserve stimulus tapering that could take place on evidence that the U.S. economy has improved.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Friday includes the nonfarm payrolls report for May at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists expect the U.S. to have added 170,000 in May, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 7.5%, according to a survey by Reuters.

3. -- U.S. stocks on Thursday rose on expectations that the jobs report Friday will bolster the Federal Reserve's position to maintain its bond-buying stimulus program.

The S&P 500 gained 0.9% to close 1,622.56.

4. -- President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are holding two days of talks on issues, including cybersecurity and North Korea's nuclear threats.

Obama's efforts to press Xi to halt China's alleged hacking against the U.S. could be overshadowed by revelations that Obama's own administration has been secretly seizing phone records from millions of Americans.

The talks between Obama and Xi begin Friday at the 200-acre Sunnylands estate just outside Palm Springs, Calif.

5. -- Apple, Google and Facebook said they don't provide any government agency with "direct access" to their servers, contradicting a report from The Washington Post that the tech giants granted such access under a classified data collection program, Reuters reported.

6. -- The Treasury Department said Thursday it would sell 30 million shares of General Motors for $34.41 a share, bringing proceeds to the government of $1.03 billion.

7. -- The Securities and Exchange Commission said a 30-year-old employee at a Thailand plastics company made profits of more than $3.2 million by trading on inside knowledge that a takeover offer for Smithfield Foods was imminent.

Smithfield announced in late May it reached a deal to be acquired by China's Shuanghui for $4.7 billion.

8. -- Shares of SodaStream International climbed Thursday despite PepsiCo's denial of a report that it seeks to acquire the Israeli maker of soda machines.

SodaStream gained 2.7% to close at $71.24 after shares rose as high as $76.04.